Firefighters, Explorers Team Up to Provide Toys for Tots

Here's information provided by the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department:

The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department has been an active part in the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program for many years on average receiving, sorting, counting and distributing around 15,000 toys during the holiday season. This year they received even more help from their very own Fire Explorer Post # 933 which is comprised of students 15 to 21 interested in a career in the fire service. The post members wanted to have a very active roll in giving back to the community this holiday season. 

“The job of firefighting is not just what we do at work but also what we do for the community outside of emergencies” said Matt Thau, a fire engineer.

The explorers handled all toy box requests made by businesses, schools and members of the community. The logistics behind this was enormous and had the explorers relying on their fire training utilizing the Incident Command System where the two cities were divided up into sections and a few explorers were responsible for getting the boxes out to their respective sections. By the time of the pickup date of Dec. 14, more than 72 boxes had been distributed. 

“The responsibility, organization and dedication to the community was great to see," said Reggie Bell, explorer coordinator. "We really have a great post.”

It is estimated that around 6,000 toys have been collected at this point. More than 3,000 toys were from very generous local businesses in the community and the explorers collection efforts. The first round of distribution will take place this weekend. If you would still like to donate to the Toys for Tots program you can do so by bringing a new, unwrapped toy or toys to any Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Station through next week.